In the wake of Hurricane Ike, members of the oldest Jewish community in Texas are scattered throughout the state.
Ike, the category 2 storm that consumed more than 70 percent of the Gulf of Mexico and ripped through coastal Texas, made landfall at Galveston Island last week.
“Galveston is a cesspool right now,” said Lee Wunsch, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. “The sewage system isn’t working and parts of the island are still under water.”
Galveston, the oldest Jewish community in Texas, has about 350 Jewish families, most of which scattered across Texas, according to rabbis from the area.
Not much was known about the city’s Temple B’nai Israel, the oldest Reform congregation in Texas. The congregation, which has a membership of about 180 families, sits near the sea wall in a neighborhood that is prone to flooding.
The other active synagogue on the island, Congregation Beth Jacob, has about 80 families.
Access to the island continues to be restricted to emergency responders, and only recently have property owners been allowed to return to their homes for several hours at a time to survey the damage. The Jewish cemeteries in Galveston are believed to be in bad shape.
Wunsch said the Houston federation would help the Galveston congregations find alternative venues for the upcoming High Holy Days services.
In Houston, the hardest hit Jewish building was the B’nai B’rith Goldberg Towers. The senior facility houses about 475 elderly residents, many of whom are Jews from the former Soviet Union.
The roof of one tower was torn off, causing massive water and wind damage to the eighth and ninth floors. The residents of the 36 apartments on those floors were relocated after the storm to lower floors, family members’ homes and another senior facility nearby. — jewish herald-voice